The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-02-02
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
"s THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION A
cHEATr HIS SUBJECT.

the Heather, that Has Reformed the
Drunkard. that is JOY on Earth
BROOKLYN, Jan. 30.-At the Tabernacle
this morning the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage,
d. D., baptized by immersion a number Of
persons who preferred that mode, as on the
Sunday previous he had baptized by sprin-
king those who so desired. Professor Browne
the organist, rendered the Sonata in minor
by Rheinberger. The opening humn, sung by
the whole congregation, was that beginning:
o happy day that fixed my choice
On thee, my Saviour and my God.
After reading another list Of those who
during the week had united with the church,
DIR. Talmage discussed the subject, lis the
Christian Religion a Cbeatg" His text was:
~He made his arrows bright, he consulted
with images, he looked in the liver" Ezekiel
xxi, 81. The preacher said:
Two modes Of divination by which the king
Of Babylon proposed TO find out the will of
God: He took bundle Of arrows, put them
together, mixed them up, then pulled forth
one and by the inscription on it decided what
city he should first assault. Then an animal
was slain, and by the lighter or darker color
OF the liver the brighter or darker prospect
Of success was inferred. That is the meaning
Of the text: "He made his arrows bright, he
liver
Stupid delusionl And yet all the ages have
been filed with decisions 1t seems as if the
world loves TO he hoodwinked; the delusion Of
the text is only specimen Of a vast number
of deceits practiced upon the human race In
the latter part Of the last century Johanna
SOuthcote came forth pretending TO have
divine power, made prophecies, had chapels
built In her honor and ZOO disciples came
forth 10 follow her About five years before
the birth of Christ Apollonius was born, and
be came forth, and after five years being
speeches, according 10 the tradition, he
healed the sick and raised the dead. and
preached virtue, and, according to the myth,
having deceased, was brought TO resurrec-
toni
The Delphic Oracle deceived vast multi
tudes Of people; the Pythoness, seated in the
temple of Appolo uttering a crazy jargon
from which the people guessed or nigguessed
their individual or national fortunes or mis-
fortunes The utterances were of such a
nature that you could read them any way
you wanted TO read them. A general going
forth 10 battle, consulted the Delphic Oracle,
and he wanted TO find out whether he was
going to be safe in the battle or killed in the
battle and the answer came forth from the
Delphic Oracle in such words that. if you put
the comma before the word never" il
means one thing, and IL you put the comma
after the word "never," it means another
thing Just opposite. The message from the
Delphic Oracle TO the general was: "Go
forth, return never in battle shalt thou
perish II he was killed, that was according
TO the Delphic Oracle; If he came home safely
that was according to the Delphic Oracle. Sc
the ancient auguries deceived the people. The
priests of those auguries, by the flight OF
birds or by the intonation Of thunder, or by
the inside appearance Of slain animals, told
the fortunes or misfortunes of individuals OF
nations. The sibyls deceived the people. The
sbyls were supposed to be inspired women
who lived in caves and who wrote
the sibyl line books, afterward pur
chased by Tarquin the Proud. Sc
late as the year 1899 a man arose in New
York, pretending to be a divine being, and
playing his part so well that wealthy mer
chants became mis- disciples and threw theii
fortunes into his discipleship. And so in al
ages there have been necromancies, incanta
tions, witchcrafts, sorceries, magical arts
enchantmeIrs, divinations and delusions. The
one of the text was only a specimen Of that
which has been TRANSPORTING in all ages of the
world None OF these decisions accom-
plished any good. They deceived, they
pauperized the people, they were as cruel as
they were absurd. They opened no hospi
tails, they healed no wounds, they wiped
AWAY no tears, they emancipated no serf-
dom.
But there are those who say that all thes,
decisions combined are as nothing compared
with the delusion now abroad in the world
the delusion of the Christian religion. That de
fusion has to-day two hundred million dupes
4 M roll ha wit
girdle That which has been called a delu
sion has already overshadowed the Appa
lachian range ON this side the sea, and it hai
overshadowed the Balkan and Caucasian
ranges on the other side the sea. 1t ha.
conquered England and the United States
This champion delusion, this hoax, thi
swindle of the ages, as it has been called
has gone forth to conquer the island
of the Pacific; the Melanasia and tn,
Micronesia and Malavan Polynesia hav,
already surrendered to the delusion Yea, /
has conquered the Indian archipelago, anc
Borneo, and Sumatra, and Celebes and Jaw
have fallen under its wiles. In the FIJI
islands, where there are 120, 900 people, 102, 00
have already become the dupes of this Chris
tan religion, and if things go as they ar,
now going on, and If the influence of thi
great hallucination of the ages cannot b.
ing, then, that Christianity is the delusion o
the centuries, as some have pronounced it,
propose this morning to show you what ha
been accomplished by this chimera, this fal
lacy, this hoax, this swindle of the ages.
And in the first place, / remark that thi
delusion of the Christian religion has mad
wonderful transformations of human charac
ter win go down the aisle of any churcl
in Christendom and win find on either sid
that aisle those who were once profiigate, pro
fame, unclean of speech and unclean of &C
ton, drunken and lost. But by the power o
this delusion of the Christian religion the,
have been completely transformed, and nov
they are kind and amiable, and genial ant
loving, and useful Everybody sees tn
change. Under the powe~ of this great hal
Inclination they have quit their former asso
cintes, and whereas they once found thei
chief delight among those who gambled ans
swore and raced horses, now they find thei
chief JOY among those who 60 to praye
meetings and churches, SO complete is tn
delusion. Yea, their own families have no
ticed it--thc wife has noticed it, the children
have noticed ii. The money that went 70
rum now goes for books and for clothes an,
for education. He is new man. All VIII
know him say there has been a wonderful
change What is the cause of this change
This great Authorization of the Christian re
lion. There is much difference between
what he Is now and what he once was as be
tween rose and nettle, as between dow
and vulture, as between day and night
Tremendous delusionl
Admiral Farragut, one of the most nd
mired men of the American navy, early be
came a victim of this Christian delusion, an,
seated not long before his death, at Lon
Branch, he was giving some friends an &C
count OF his early life. He said:
@My father went down in behalf OF tn
United States government to put an end 4
Aaron Burrs rebellion. was a cabin DO,
and went along with him. could swear lik
an old salt. l could gamble in every style o
gambling. l knew all the wickednes
there was at that time abroad On
day my father cleared everybody out of tn
cabin except myself, and locked the doors
He said: David, what are you going to do
What ara you going to bef Well / said
father, am gong to follow the sea- Follow
the seal and be poor, miserable, drunkeu
sailor, kicked and cuffed about the work
and die of a fever in foreign hospitalr ooh
no. said, father, will not be that; vii
tread the quarter deck and command as yos
do No, David my father said; mo
David, person that has your principles and
your bad habits viii never tread the quarte
deck or command Ny father went out ane
shut the door after him, and said then: !.
win change, win never swear again, viii
never drink again, I will never gambl
again And, gentlemen, by the help Of God
have kept those three vows TO this time.
soon after that became Christian, and tina
decided my fate for time and for eternity.s
Another captive of this great Christian de
fusion, There goes Saul Of Tarsus on horse
back at fun gailop. Where is he goinga T,
destroy Christians He wants no better pla,
spell than 10 stand and watch the hats ana
coats OF the murderers who are massacrin,
Gods children. There goes the same man